DCH Facilities Show Improvement In Latest Hospital Safety Ratings

The new fall 2025 grades for hospital safety are in from Leap Frog and the DCH Health System's hospitals in Tuscaloosa and Northport have each graded out with an overall B. The authority's Fayette facility scored a C for this rating period.

The B given to the DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa is consistent with the B grades received over the last three rating periods. It is a vast improvement over the C and D grades in 2022 and 2023.

The overall Northport Medical Center grade of B is an improvement over the C grade received this past spring and a return to the B received during both 2024 grading periods.

The Fayette Medical Center's C remains the same from the spring grading period. The medical center was not graded in the fall of 2024 but earned a B in the spring of last year. The facility earned an A grade in the spring of 2022 but was not graded during the next three reports.

Other West Alabama hospitals receiving grades:

• Baptist Health Walker Hospital in Jasper a C,
• Whitfield Hospital in Demopolis, a C.

West Alabama hospitals not receiving grades are:

• Bibb Medical Center in Centreville,
• Greene County Hospital in Eutaw,
• Hale County Hospital in Greensboro
• Hill Hospital of Sumter County in Livingston

The Leapfrog Group is a medical non-profit that provides free, publicly available patient safety data online to help patients make informed decisions about their care. They grade in six categories with each category grade based on green for no problems, yellow for some problems and red for significant problems.

The grades are based on factors such as how well the hospital prevents infections by encouraging handwashing, does the hospital support a strong healthcare team that includes the patient, and are there procedures in place to prevent errors such as leaving dangerous objects in a patient's body during surgery,

Leap Frog reports that 440,000 people die each year resulting from hospital safety problems. The survey says this is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.

"The hospital you choose can have a direct impact on the care you get, how long you're in the hospital, and perhaps the harm that you experience while you're there." says Alexandra Campione, program manager of Leap Frog's Hospital Safety Grades.

Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa was unable to contact a spokesperson for the DCH Health System for a response to the grades of their three facilities due to the late time of the day the report cards were released.

The next Leap Frog grading period will be in spring 2026.